This hot sauce recipe uses serrano peppers that have been fermented, then processed with vinegar, garlic, tequila and lime juice. It is juicy, tart and just the right amount of spicy.
Spicy Serrano Hot Sauce Recipe
More hot sauce coming at you, my friends. If you can believe it, our garden is STILL producing peppers because of this phenomenal weather we've been having. I know cold weather is on the way, but we've been a bit lucky here in zone 5 this year and I'm reaping the benefits.
I grew serrano peppers this year and HOLY WOW did they go wild. I only planted a single plant and that plant has produced marvelously. If you're going to grow peppers, be sure to include a serrano plant. One of the most productive plants in the garden.
The big question, though, when growing serrano peppers is...
What Can I Do With a LOT of Serrano Peppers?
Here's an idea for you. Make HOT SAUCE.
Yes!
This is a fermented hot sauce recipe and it requires an entire pound of serrano peppers, which may not seems like a lot of weight, but it takes quite a few serrano peppers to weigh 1 pound.
To Ferment or Use Fresh Peppers?
If you're not comfortable with fermenting (you SHOULD be, though), you CAN make this hot sauce with fresh serrano peppers. Just skip steps 1-4 in the recipe. Start by processing the peppers in a food processor, then jump to step 5 and make your serrano hot sauce.
It will still be a good hot sauce, for sure, but you'll have a fresher, greener flavor that is not quite as developed that you achieve by fermenting.
Check out my page on How to Make Fermented Pepper Mash to learn more about why you should be fermenting chili peppers.
Fermented hot sauces are mellower and have a deeper flavor, so I've been fermenting a LOT of chili peppers this year for hot sauces.
This is actually a hot sauce for Patty, because she tends to lean toward green hot sauces and seasonings. I tend to favor vibrant red and orange sauces, but Patty loves her serrano peppers.
So here you go, Patty! She loves this one. It is slightly garlicky and tart and distinctive with the addition of tequila, something else Patty loves.
Enjoy and check out my other Hot Sauce Recipes, too.
Where'd you get that sauce bottle?
I find them locally sometimes, but I also order through Amazon. Here is a link to some bottles I like (affiliate link, my friends!): Swing Top Glass Bottles, 8.5 Ounce - Set of 4. If you like the smaller bottles that most hot sauce makers use, here's another link: Hot Sauce Bottles, 5 Oz - 24 Pack.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Process this hot sauce for longer storage. Just be sure to use proper canning/jarring safety procedures.
- Wondering what to do with this sauce? Aside from drizzling it over anything you please, here's a post I did about How to Cook with Hot Sauce. As if you need even MORE reasons to eat hot sauce. I hope you find it helpful!
- After you strain out the solids to thin out the hot sauce, you can throw the solids away, OR --- dehydrate them and use them for seasoning. Or simply do not strain for a thicker sauce. Those solids still have plenty of life left in them, and hey, what a great way to make some homemade seasonings for yourself? Sprinkle it over foods or use it as a rub. It would be GREAT on chicken. Give it a little ZING, right?
Storage
This sauce should keep many months easily in the fridge, or even longer. It's all about the acidity. To be technical, target level ph for shelf stable foods is below 4.6 ph, but should probably be lower for home cooks, around 4.0 or so, to account for errors. If you're concerned, add more vinegar to lower the ph. Sauces made with fermented chili peppers will last even longer.
The best ph meters that I recommend are from Thermoworks. Get yourself a ph meter from Thermoworks today. I am a happy affiliate.
Check out more Hot Sauce Recipes or learn more about How to Make Hot Sauce.
More Hot Sauce Recipes to Try
More Serrano Recipes to Try
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Spicy Serrano Hot Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound serrano peppers
- 3 tablespoons sea salt
- 1 quart unchlorinated water
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 ounces white wine vinegar
- 1.5 ounces reposado tequila
- Juice from 1 lime
Instructions
- First, ferment the serrano peppers. Process your fresh peppers in a food processor. If you don’t have a processor, use a mortar and pestle or simply rough chop them. Pack them into a jar, leaving at least 1 inch of head space. The peppers may rise a bit when fermenting.
- Next, mix 1 quart unchlorinated water with 3 tablespoons sea salt. Pour just enough brine over the peppers to cover them, pressing them down a bit as you go. Discard or save any remaining brine for another use. It is important to keep the peppers covered with brine to avoid spoilage. Check this daily.
- Screw on the lid and set the jar away from direct sunlight to ferment for at least 1 week. Ideal temperatures are between 55-75 degrees F. The most active fermentation period is between 1-2 weeks, sobe sure to monitor it during this time. “Burp” the jars often by unscrewing the lid a bit to let out some of the accumulating gases. Or, use an airlock or membrane for easier fermenting. See our page, “How to Make Fermented Pepper Mash”, for further instruction.
- After 1-2 weeks, the fermenting activity will diminish and the brine will turn cloudy and taste acidic.
- Pour the fermented serrano peppers, including the brine, into a pot along with garlic, vinegar and tequila. Bring to a quick boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. NOTE: If you feel the brine will make your hot sauce too salty, you can strain the peppers and use fresh water instead, just enough to cover the peppers in the pot. Or, use a combination of brine and fresh water.
- Cool slightly then add to a food processor with the lime juice. Process until smooth.
- Strain the mixture to remove the solids, if desired. Pour into hot sauce bottles and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Andy says
Delicious hot sauce and a great intro to fermenting chilis. Was able to make ALOT of this from two Serrano plants last summer and it kept with no problem in the fridge for 7 or 8 months.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Great, Andy! Thanks for sharing!
Jason says
Hello I just made your pepper sauce I didn't have quite a pound of serrano so I added a few jalapeno and a few Tabasco Peppers. Using my food processor it may have blended it too thin and almost into a mash. Is that okay?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Absolutely, Jason. No issue at all. Let me know how you enjoy it.
Marcia Clark says
I fermented the peppers for 8 days and just made the sauce exactly as the directions. Delicious! It is hot but not killer like the cayenne sauce recipe I followed from this site last week. All good! Thanks Mike.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Great to hear, Marcia! Glad you enjoyed it!
Cherie says
Can this recipe be canned? If so, what do you recommend? Thank you.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yes, Cherie. Absolutely. Just be sure to use proper canning/jarring safety procedures. A water bath process would be sufficient.
Grace says
So made the mash, jarred it and have checked everyday trying to keep it below the brine. On a couple jars I tried the baggies filled with water. All three jars have developed a very thin white layer even on the jars with the baggies the thing white layer is on the sides of the jar between the baggie and the glass. I’m thinking it’s probably spoiled but before I throw it out I thought I’d double check here first. Is my mash spoiled??
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Grace, often that thin white layer is kahm yeast, which is not bad for you. You can usually scrape that away. If the layer is fuzzy and smells bad, then there is some infection. If it is very smooth and doesn't have a spoiled/rotten smell, it's probably just kahm yeast.
Grace says
Can the tequila be left out or something else substituted?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Grace, yes, you can use another booze, like rum. For a no alcohol version, use either more vinegar, a citrus juice, or just water to thin. Let me know how it goes for you.
Aaron C says
I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but I’m super excited to. I love green chili peppers. I was wondering if it would be possible to make the sauce without cooking it after fermentation? I’d love to keep the probiotic value and cooking the sauce will kill off the good bacteria. Would it still taste good if you didn’t cook it? Would you ferment everything together or just the peppers and brine? How would you do it? Sorry. Just looking to maximize the nutrition as well! Thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Aaron, absolutely. You don't have to cook it. Many people stop before cooking for the probiotic benefits. Refrigeration will slow it down, though you may still need to burp your bottles/containers, as fermentation activity will continue. Let me know how it goes.
Anna says
I roasted the peppers on the grill and after peeling and seeding them (great quarantine time filler) proceeded directly to the puree stage, adding salt, vinegar, lime, garlic and tequila gradually since the roasted peppers are so much less in volume. Pretty much ended up with the proportions in the recipe! Yum.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Anna! I hope you enjoy the heat!
Al says
HI,
Made your Serrano hot sauce but found the recipe a little unclear.
I mixed a quart of brine, but only used about half to cover the peppers to ferment. When it came time to add everything to a pot (including brine) I wasn't sure if you meant the whole quart, including the stuff I hadn't used to cover the peppers, or just the stuff that was in with the peppers. I used the qhole lot and ended up with a lot of thin sauce.
Tastes ok, but a little salty.
Perhaps you could update your recipe to cover this off 🙂
Also, unsure when you say to simmer for 15 minutes - is this with the lid on or off? Are we trying to reduce the sauce or just cook everything for 15 minutes?
Looking forward to your response
Thanks
Al
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Al, you really only need to add the water from the ferment, not the whole quart. I'll adjust the NOTES to make it clear that you really only need enough brine to cover the peppers. Regarding saltiness - you can discard the brine altogether and just use fresh water, or use a combination. Simmer with no lid, which is meant to stop the ferment and help meld the flavors even more. It is not necessary. I hope this is clear. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Andrew Biddle says
Thank you for the recipe. I've made hot sauces before but never tried fermenting until now. My 3qt jar of sliced serrano peppers has stopped fermenting, mostly noticed by less bubbles and the mash isn't floating to the top anymore. There are little white curly worm-shapes floating throughout, which are either worms or seed embryo. I'm suspecting the latter because I never saw anything moving or hatching, but is this something I should expect?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Andrew, no, not at all. It sounds like the batch has been infected and should be thrown out. Sorry to say.
Troy says
I have a question about dehydrating. When you dehydrate mash, what kind of dehydrator do you use? Does it have a special style of tray to contain the liquidy mash? We we going to keep an eye out for a dehydrator on black friday and wondering what to look for.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Troy - I have two models, a smaller Nesco and a larger Excalibur. The Nesco comes with some solid trays that let you add things like mash or pulp so it won't fall through the mesh. The Excalibur uses trays, so I use some dehydrator sheets that lay over the mesh trays, keeping the mash from leaking through. There are some links to Amazon for the ones I use on this page, under the "Get a Dehydrator" section: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/hot-sauces/seasonings-from-hot-sauce-pulp/. I hope this helps! Enjoy!
Troy says
Michael,
when i look at the nesco you recommended on your link, it does not look like it comes with solid trays. Are you using the "fruit roll " sheets to do the mash, or am I missing something? It looks like the mesco model with the "pr" at the end of the model number come with these sheets. Sorry for the questions, but not in a place to buy the excalubur at this time and want to make sure I order the right thing to do the mash. Maybe Nesco has changed the way they sell the FD-75a.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Troy, mine came with some solid trays, and yes, you can make fruit leathers on them, so that is most likely what you need. As long as they are solid. You can also buy reusable teflon liners for the round trays. Let me know how it goes.
Mike says
Hi Mike - This is more of a question for fermentation process. Donyou have some recommendations to help keep the solids below the liquid line to avoid spoilage. I’m finding that my processed peppers are creeping up above on top Of the liquid in the mason jar.
Thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Hi, Mike. There are a few ways to keep the peppers submerges beneath the brine. One quick method is to fill a baggie with water, seal it, and place it into the jar to force everything down below the water. See if that works. It is important to keep everything submerged to avoid contamination, like mold, from growing on the exposed peppers. I use small glass weights that work well. Grape leaves are another method, where you can drape grape leaves over the top of the ferment to not only keep the peppers submerged, but to also help keep any developing yeast (like kahm yeast) away from the peppers.
Kate P says
Hello there! I found your site while researching recipes to use up my surplus of Serrano peppers. I am super interested in this recipe but before I start, I need a little clarification. Bear with me, I have a lot of questions.
My primary confusion is regarding the brine fermentation process mentioned in this recipe. The recipe calls for mixing 1 QUART of brine. But the recipe also says "Pour just enough brine over the peppers to cover them, pressing them down a bit as you go." Since this recipe is really only yielding 1 cup of hot sauce, I was envisioning fermenting it in a pint mason jar or a pint and half at most. So if I just cover the hot pepper mash with brine, I can't imagine it will require a lot of brine liquid. Reasonably, how much brine do you think will be used throughout the fermenting process? Does it really require a whole quart of brine? How often do you typically have to recover it with brine in the 1-2 week fermentation process?
Can you share a picture of what your fermentation set up usually looks like? Or better yet, make a video about the process? In the comments of other people's questions, you mention that you have to cover the mash with a glass weight. What kind of weight do you have? Where do you find one? What kind of jar do you use that will hold a glass weight?
Finally, in this recipe, you reference your other page for "How to Make Fermented Pepper Mash". That article references a 2nd way to ferment, which involves mixing the salt directly into the mash without covering it with a liquid brine. Is there any reason that this method would NOT work for this Serrano hot sauce recipe? You only list the brine method for this particular recipe, so I'm just curious.
Those are all of my questions. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Kate, I usually make more brine than needed and toss what is not used. It's just water and salt, so not an issue for me. Make half and see if it fits in your jar.
You need to cover the peppers with the brine. If any peppers are not covered, they run the risk of contamination and rot. Be sure to cover them. I'll try to share photos in upcoming recipes.
There is no reason you can't use the second fermentation method. Give it a go.
Good luck! Enjoy.